Socially Distanced

Chapter 3

I walked back to class a few minutes before it started. I checked the time on my phone. 7:57. The joys of an 8:00 a.m. lecture. I yawned.

The professor started to speak. "Welcome to speech! I hope you're all doing well." She was met with nothing but silence. She cleaned her throat and began talking again.

"My name is Professor Williams. Today we're going to go over the syllabus, but first I'd like to start with an ice breaker!"

I sighed, wondering if anyone could hear me. I really didn't care though.

"Turn to the person closest to you and tell them three fun facts about yourself. Go!"

Just kill me now. I looked at my surroundings. The boy at the end of the row was walking towards me. I was glad because I definitely wasn't going to initiate the conversation.

He walked over to me and stuck his hand out for me to shake. "I'm Brett."

I was having a midlife crisis over here. Do I shake his hand and try not to touch anything else with it until I can wash my hands, or do I make an excuse as to why I can't shake hands? My timidness took over and I shook his hand. "I'm Mabel."

"Nice to meet you, Mabel. Your name reminds me of syrup."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Syrup?"

"Yeah, you know, like maple syrup. Mabel... maple. Similar, right?"

I chuckled and rolled my eyes. What a goof. I could tell Brett was friendly, so this was going to be challenging for me. I needed to try to avoid him to prevent myself from having to be around his inevitable germs. Friendly people are always the hardest to avoid. His outfit also reflected his, silly, laid-back attitude. He wore a simple hoodie and jeans. His outfit wasn't anything too extravagant, however, his hair was a different story. He had dark hair that was dyed purple at the tips. It was just long enough where it could topple over in a little wave. I could tell that he hadn't gotten it dyed recently. There was about an inch of his natural colored hair below the purple wave.

He spoke again. "So I guess we have to discuss some facts about ourselves. Do you remember how many Professor Williams mentioned?"

I replayed her introduction in my mind. "Yeah, she said each person needed to share three facts."

He nodded. "Okay, I'll start. I don't know what I want to major in yet, so I'm taking all of these general Ed classes. I sit in the back of the class because I'm really not interested in this at all... and uh..." He scratched his head. "Oh, I have purple hair. Your turn." He sat down in the chair next to me.

I laughed. "I could tell that you had purple hair by looking at you, Brett."

"It was a fact nonetheless," he retorted, clearly pleased with himself.

I rolled my eyes and tried to think of three facts about my boring self. "I'm also unsure of what I want to major in. Summer is my favorite season..." I tried to think of a third thing. I glanced at Brett. "Oh and my favorite color is purple." I smiled.

"Hey me too!" he shouted, pointing at his hair.

We both laughed. Suddenly an intrusive thought forced its way into my brain. You're being too friendly. Cut it out right now. Make him leave. Make him go back to his chair at the other end of the row. He's sitting too close to you. You're breathing in his germs! And what about your hand? How do you expect to wash your hands now that class has started? Hand sanitizer won't be enough this time! No... you need to remove these germs with soap and water. Antiseptic won't cut it. I shifted in my seat. My let my hand sit limp at my side, trying to avoid touching any of my things. I'll have to remember to disinfect this stuff anyway when I get home.

Brett cut into my thoughts. "That's actually why I dyed my hair," he said with a smirk.

"I don't follow."

"You know, because my favorite color is purple. I'm a spontaneous guy, so I was like hey, why not do something spontaneous? I was getting a haircut then I thought of this. Never going back to natural colored hair again."

I nodded, unsure of what else to say. I didn't want to continue this conversation. Brett seemed like a nice guy, but he was putting a damper on things. This isn't how my day was supposed to go. I can't talk to people. I have to appear normal and the only way to do this is by isolating myself. I can't let him see that I won't touch anything with my contaminated hand. I can't let him know my secret. Even my friends didn't know the extent of my secret. I had a few friends, and they knew I was a germaphobe, but they didn't know why. My friends are the perfect type of people for me. They're more casual friends, who don't talk to you on a daily basis, yet they're the type of people who you can reconnect with effortlessly, even if it has been months since you've seen each other. I liked it that way. I needed my space. I didn't want any new friends. I couldn't handle it.

"Alright you may return to your seats," stated Professor Williams. Thank you. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Brett stood up. "See ya," he said, walking away.

I turned my attention back to my professor and the infinite amount of work I had in store for me. The syllabus was endless with instructions on assignments, projects and papers. I can't wait for this semester to be over, I thought. It may only be a little after eight in the morning on my very first day, but that's no excuse not to look forward to this class ending.